Peach Bites

Georgians Aren't Water Hogs - Apparently we're not guzzling as much water as you may have thought. I think that 1.8 percent is misleading though. The sprinklers in my neighborhood didn't kick in until the beginning of July. Now, I'm seeing the sprinklers on while it's raining which leads me to believe it's back to the old mentality. Georgia Public Broadcasting

Atlantans Could Save $21.2 Billion by 2020 - A McKinsey & Company report cited by Consumer Reports indicates that Americans can save $1.2 trillion by 2020 with effective investments in energy efficiency. Wow! That translates into $4000 for every man woman and child in the US. Atlantans would collectively save about $21.2 billion. That could pay for almost 10 Beltlines.. It could even come close to paying for that crazy tunnel under Atlanta that some of our wise leaders in the capitol have discussed. Consumer Reports

Atlanta Ranks Highly on Outside Magazine's Top Cities - This year's rankings of best cities ranked Atlanta #3 overall behind Colorado Springs and Seattle. Their criteria were pretty thorough so I can feel comfortable that the proper level of research was done. I would tend to agree with the ranking given the sheer volume of activities within 2-3 hours of the heart of the city. The article mentions fishing, mountain biking, cliff jumping, boating and hiking as positives for the area. Outside Magazine

Beltline Gets Bond Issuance Approval - The Atlanta City Council granted approval for the Beltline to issue $267 million in bonds to fund the project. The plan is to issue $145M - $165M in October. Developer interest will ultimately decide the amount that is issued in October. It's great to see this project moving forward. Creative Loafing

This Week in Atlanta

 

Since last week was light, why not have a busy week this week? There are a number of networking opportunities this week that you can rsvp for. Also, Sustainable Atlanta will be rolling out it's Sustainable Building Ordinance plan to the public and soliciting feedback through a series of public workshops. This is not to be confused with the monthly Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable that is organized by the Southface Institute. Have fun and forgive me if I don't post next week as we are expecting a Little GreenPeach on Thursday. I foresee that I will have my hands full.

Aug 3 (Monday)

12pm - 7pm - Sustainable Atlanta - Sustainable Building Ordinance Public Workshop @ Peachtree Branch Public Library

Aug 4 (Tuesday)

10am - 6pm - Sustainable Atlanta - Sustainable Building Ordinance Public Workshop @ Stewart-Lakewood Public Library

4pm - 8pm - Whistlestop Farmer's Market - Norcross

Aug 5 (Wednesday)

10am - 7pm - Sustainable Atlanta - Sustainable Building Ordinance Public Workshop @ Buckhead Branch Public Library

1145am - 130pm - Green Chamber of the South - Green Wednesdays ($,R)

6pm - 8pm - Green Drinks Atlanta @ Twain's Bar & Grill in Decatur

6pm - 10pm - Whiskey Blue Goes Green Launch Party (R)

630pm - 830pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Sustainable Southern Gardening ($,R)

Aug 6 (Thursday)

9am - 6pm - ABC - Commuter Breakfast @ Thumbs Up Diner - Edgewood

10am - 7pm - Sustainable Atlanta - Sustainable Building Ordinance Public Workshop @ West End Branch Library

6pm - 630pm - Northeast Beltline 101

6pm - 10pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Cocktails in the Garden ($,R)

Aug 7 (Friday)

730am - 9am - Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable - Georgia's Coast: A Landscape in Peril ($)

Aug 8 (Saturday)

8am - 12pm - Lawrenceville Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Suwanee Farmer's Market

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

830am - 12pm - Peachtree Road Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta - Planting - See Website for Details

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

9am - 1pm - Gardening Class @ Truly Living Well Farm ($,R)

12pm - 1230pm - Southwest Beltline 101

Aug 9 (Sunday)

930am - 3pm - UCR - Chattahoochee River Cleanup

1pm - 6pm - Georgia Organics - Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival

2pm - 3pm - Harry's Farmers Market Marietta - Healthy Eating Shopping Tour with Dr. Dave (R)

Ongoing Activities

Tour Greenhaven Decorators' Show House - Through Aug 9, See Website for Hours & Details

Tour LEED Certified Chattahoochee Nature Center - Mondays & Thursdays @ 1pm, Sundays @ 4pm (General Admission, Members Free)

Naturalist Led Canoe Trips from the Chattahoochee Nature Center - August - Saturdays 830am - 11am

This Week in Environmental History

No events of note

$ - Event Costs Money
R - Registration Required
P - Private Event Invite Only
M - Group Membership Required
V - Volunteer Event

Peach Bites

Phillips Arena Gets Top Billing - Apparently, Phillips Arena is the #1 concert and events facility in the US based on attendance figures.  It's also number seven in the world.  Not bad for the first LEED certified arena in either the NBA or NHL.  AJC

Environmentally Friendly High School Opens This Year - The new LEED certified Arabia Mountain High School will be opening in the coming weeks to approximately 1,100 new students.  The school is Georgia's first LEED certified school and will have an environmentally concious curriculum.  My Fox Atlanta

What Do We Need Now??...  A Faster Way to Macon, Of Course - According to this article, state lawmakers "have been 'flirting' with the idea of high speed rail for years."  Their definition of flirting and my definition of flirting must be drastically different.  This might be a good idea for the region but IMO, it will never happen.  13 WMAZ

Green Communities Awards Given by Atlanta Regional Commission - I have to say that this is a great idea.  Certification of communities as green is a step in the right direction.  However, it has to make sense.  The first recipients are Decatur, Alpharetta and Cobb County.  Living in Alpharetta, I can safely say that it is FAR from anything that should be considered a Green community.  Cobb County is not much better.  I just worry that labeling a community as "Green" for its intentions rather than the existing reality is misleading.  Look for a later post on this topic.  Atlanta Regional Commission

Sites You Should Know - MyEnvironment

We recently ran across a great site that the US EPA runs called MyEnvironment. It is a location based site that provides information for your area. Upon entering your location information, you will get a screen that is divided into sections for the following:

- MyAir
- MyLand
- MyWater
- MyHealth
- MyEcological Conditions
- MyCollaboration

You are able to dive down into each of these categories. For example, under the MyLand section, you can link to an EPA site that will allow you to search for superfund sites in your area. I found four in the Alpharetta area. That was surprising.

Take a look and you will likely find something out about your area that you did not know.



MyEnvironment

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Peach Bites

Georgia Tech Makes the Honor Roll - The Princeton Review has named Georgia Tech to its Green College Honor Roll.  Georgia Tech is the only university in the region to make the list and strikingly absent is Emory University which has more LEED certified buildings than any campus in the nation. MNN

Suniva May Go Public - The Norcross based solar company is considering going public.  They have raised $75M in private funding and are looking for more. The company has obtained over $1 billion in orders. Atlanta Business Chronicle

Atlanta Ranks 33rd in Sustainability - The NRDC recently released rankings of the most sustainable cities in the US.  The west coast came out on top with Seattle winning the #1 spot and San Francisco and Portland close behind.  Roswell was 23rd on the smaller cities list.  Creative Loafing

Help For Our Right Whales - New technology may help ships avoid collisions with whales.  This will help the dwindling population of right whales that breed off the coast of Georgia.  TreeHugger

They'll Call it HotterLanta Soon - I hate the silly name of Hot-Lanta that our city picked up in the 90s but it is appropriate now and will be later this century if predictions are correct.  A report released recently on the potential impacts of global warming states that average temperatures in the 2080s will likely be 4.5 to 9 degrees hotter.  Macon.com

Perdue Says NO to Conservation and YES to Water War

Image Courtesy of Zach Klein @ Flickr

Well, I can't say that Perdue says no to water conservation totally but he definitely doesn't feel that the state will be telling Atlantans what to do with their water anytime soon. Thomas Wheatley at Creative Loafing chronicled the recent meeting between Perdue and 130 other officials at the governor's mansion in Buckhead to discuss the water crisis that has erupted in recent days since the courts ruled that Atlanta has just three years to stop using Lake Lanier as its primary water supply.  It was informative.  To read the entire article click here.

The point that I took offense to is that Perdue and the other officials seem to think that it's impossible to drastically cut our water usage. So, his example is that we would need to go back to 1975 withdrawal levels and that the metro region was 1/3rd the size in 1975. If my calculations, are roughly right, that would mean that we would probably need to cut our water use by approximately 70% understanding that we probably use more water per capita now than we did then.  Personally, I think with the right incentives and a public education campaign, Atlantans could cut water use by 50-60%. Why not reach out to desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas to help us.  Atlanta might be able to become a leader in water efficiency.  Oh yeah.. and maybe we can get Coca-Cola to stop using Lanier to bottle Dasani water (actually, I have no idea if that is true or not.)

But, all of this is for naught as the US Supreme Court will probably not the economic engine of the south go thirsty.

This Week in Atlanta

Wow... this is a light week. I guess everyone is on vacation. there are some opportunities to get out or get involved. Take a look at Sierra Club 101 or the weekly Trees Atlanta planting on Saturday morning.

July 27 (Monday)

No Events

July 28 (Tuesday)

4pm - 8pm - Whistlestop Farmer's Market - Norcross

July 29 (Wednesday)

8am - 12pm - Tomato Fest 2009 @ Dunwoody Farmer's Market

1030am - 12pm - Cloth Diapering Workshop - Harry's Farmers Market Roswell

7pm - 9pm - Georgia Organics - Farm-to-Table Unibroue Beer Pairing Dinner ($,R)

July 30 (Thursday)

6pm - 10pm - Atlanta Botanical Garden - Cocktails in the Garden ($,R)

7pm - 10pm - ecosystM Type-A Networking Event @ Dolce in Atlantic Station

July 31 (Friday)

No Events

Aug 1 (Saturday)

7am - 3pm - UCR & Trout Unlimited - Fishing Dayz

8am - 12pm - Lawrenceville Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Suwanee Farmer's Market

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

830am - 12pm - Peachtree Road Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta - Planting - See Website for Details

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market
1030am - 12pm - Sierra Club 101

Aug 2 (Sunday)

No Events

This Week in Environmental History

No events of note

$ - Event Costs Money
R - Registration Required
P - Private Event Invite Only
M - Group Membership Required
V - Volunteer Event

The Congress of The New Urbanism Heads to Atlanta for its 2010 Meeting

The 18th annual Congress for The New Urbanism will be held May 19th - 22nd in Atlanta. It's great to play host to such a forward thinking roundtable. The theme of this year's congress is Prescription for Healthy Places. There will obviously be a big discussion about how neighborhood design impacts health and overall happiness. Surprisingly, Atlanta has come a long way since the 90's and we now have some great mixed use if not completly new urbanist neighborhoods. Some of the best examples are Atlantic Station, Glenwood Park, Smyrna Village Green and Serenbe. Take a quick look at the video and find out a little more about the CNU.

The Unfinished Skyline

image courtesy of Coka Koehler at Flickr

From the Peachtree Streetcar to Trump Towers, projects are on hold and dreams have been dashed. Maybe we'll see some of these projects in 5 or 10 years and hopefully, they'll all have a sustainable flair to them.  Fortunately, our skyline isn't riddled with unfinished projects like many other cities are. 

Rachel Tobin-Ramos with the AJC had a great artile this week abou the unfinished and unstarted projects along Atlanta's most popular road.  The City That Never Was

Celebrating Space

On a day that marks the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, I'd just like to thank the guys who did it for this beautiful photo.  It doesn't seem like much but when you think about it for a little while, it is a truly amazing photo taken by one of a group of some amazing Americans.